Galactorrhoea in a Male Schizophrenic Patient: A Case Report

Abstract

Galactorrhoea is non-lactational milk production and it may or may not be associated with prolactinemia1. It causes embarrassment and distress to a schizophrenic patient, especially, if the patient is male. One study in Germany reported that incidence and prevalence of galactorrhoea in schizophrenia are 14% and 19%, respectively2. Although galactorrhoea is not rare in schizophrenic patients, managing and understanding the a etiology can be problematic. In psychiatric patients, antipsychotics can be a cause but other causes need to be ruled out. Galactorrhoea also needs to be differentiated from pathologic nipple discharge which can be due to breast tumours. Usually, galactorrhoea is bilateral, multiductal, and milky, but discharge can be yellow, green or brown3. This case report describes a 32-year old patient with schizophrenia who visited a government psychiatric hospital in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. This report highlights the clinical challenges to determine the aetiology of galactorrhoea and to manage it in schizophrenics. It raises the following clinical questions: Why a psychiatric patient
develops galactorrhoea? How a schizophrenic patient presents with galactorrhoea? What
hormonal imbalances are associated with this psychiatric disorder? How should a doctor
handle a schizophrenic patient complaining of galactorrhoea? What is the danger of having galactorrhoea in a male?